Paddletrucker
05-02-2013, 08:08 AM
I'm going to be driving one of my Dad's tractor trailers a few nights a week for a while because he lost a driver. I've driven this truck about three times so far. I've already learned that I HAVE to put a ham radio in it if I'm going to spend any time at all in it. I've got an Icom IC-2200H that I plan to put in it so I'll at least have 2 Meter.
HEre's my problem. This tractor is a Kenworth T-600 and has aerodynamic mirrors with no way to use a mirror mount like I use on my tractor. The cab is fiberglass, so a mag mount is out. I don't really want to start drilling holes in Dad's truck. I've found a way to use some angle iron to go from some metal brackets on the back of the sleeper that holds the cab extender fairings on and go straight up and the bolt an NMO mount onto the angle iron. This should be awesome as it will get my antenna tip above the top of any trailer.
I don't, however, have an easy way to get into the cab with my coax. I'll just about have to go from the top of the back of the sleeper, down to the frame, under the sleeper and cab toward the front, up the firewall, through the firewall to underneath the dash, over to the door and up past the dash, then finally out across the top of the dash to the radio mounted in the middle of and on top of the dashboard.
I doubt my 17 foot coax I'm running now will get close. Can I simply add more coax? I've never needed anywhere close to the 17 feet of coax that came with my NMO mounts. I use 8 foot coax lengths for my CB, since I've always just gone out to the mirrors. Can I get some sort of PL-259 double ended adapter and just get another coax? WIll I need to worry about SWR's??
IF it matters, I'll be Using a Diamond 770B antenna on an NMO mount that doesn't require a ground or a ground plane. It seems to be the only antenna I can really get to work well on my mostly fiberglass tractor cab, and since Dad's truck is also mostly fiberglass, I'll stick with that antenna.
HEre's my problem. This tractor is a Kenworth T-600 and has aerodynamic mirrors with no way to use a mirror mount like I use on my tractor. The cab is fiberglass, so a mag mount is out. I don't really want to start drilling holes in Dad's truck. I've found a way to use some angle iron to go from some metal brackets on the back of the sleeper that holds the cab extender fairings on and go straight up and the bolt an NMO mount onto the angle iron. This should be awesome as it will get my antenna tip above the top of any trailer.
I don't, however, have an easy way to get into the cab with my coax. I'll just about have to go from the top of the back of the sleeper, down to the frame, under the sleeper and cab toward the front, up the firewall, through the firewall to underneath the dash, over to the door and up past the dash, then finally out across the top of the dash to the radio mounted in the middle of and on top of the dashboard.
I doubt my 17 foot coax I'm running now will get close. Can I simply add more coax? I've never needed anywhere close to the 17 feet of coax that came with my NMO mounts. I use 8 foot coax lengths for my CB, since I've always just gone out to the mirrors. Can I get some sort of PL-259 double ended adapter and just get another coax? WIll I need to worry about SWR's??
IF it matters, I'll be Using a Diamond 770B antenna on an NMO mount that doesn't require a ground or a ground plane. It seems to be the only antenna I can really get to work well on my mostly fiberglass tractor cab, and since Dad's truck is also mostly fiberglass, I'll stick with that antenna.